Chapter 14

 We all looked at Brier in shock, all asking her the same question. "Are you ok..?", Cephas asked. "Hm… Yeah, me is ok, why?", Brier asked while rubbing her eyes. "Do you not remember what happened in the cave?", I asked. "Not really… I know I walk down da cave with big Brother Aden, but.. that all..", Brier said with slight confusion. Daiki knelt to Brier's level and the once overwhelming tension in his eyes started to linger. He opened his arms up and gave Brier a big hug, Cephas and I gave him a warm smile. Once night had fallen, and our stomachs were satisfied, we sat around the campfire, everyone was asleep but me, I stared up at the stars instead. The night sky was lit up like fireworks, the stars were bright and beautiful, it was nothing like back home where the stars seemed to have become all but few. However, as I was viewing the stars, they suddenly became washed with black clouds from the east, covering every last star until it was black. I stood up quickly and looked at where the clouds originated, wondering if there was a forest fire or accident. I grabbed my flashlight and slowly walked farther east to see what was causing the black clouds. Soon enough, as I was walking I entered what looked like a wasteland, there was a severe lack of life surrounding me.

 The trees were as dark as the sky above me, the ground was like a desert, covered in dark rocks and dirt. I kept walking forward, with each step increasing my edge, each little sound sent chills down my spine, with no sign of where the clouds originated. I continued until I reached a cliffside, however, what I witnessed there chilled me to the core. In front of me was a giant black castle covered in more black clouds and smoke, making breathing difficult. Looking down from the cliff revealed creatures that were unlike anything I had seen since my arrival. These creatures were black on every inch of their body, with white cracks highlighting the creepiness. Some of these creatures had antlers, tails, or wings, but they were all different Their behaviors were unnatural as they walked around like zombies. As I leaned closer to the edge, a piece of the cliff broke off and fell toward them, bringing their attention to me. As soon as they locked eyes with me, their zombie behavior became something inhuman, they all roared and screeched with animal-like aggression, and the next events had me fearing for my life. All of them started crawling up the cliff at a rapid pace while continuing their blood-curdling roars. I ran as quickly as I could, keeping my flashlight on to see the path back to the lake. I could hear their screams getting closer and closer while the lake was nowhere in sight. I looked behind me to see the creatures quickly gaining speed, one suddenly launched at me, and I quickly shifted to the right, dodging its attack. I kept running west when I started seeing the lake shine from the moon, I smiled at what looked like my escape. Before I could exit the forest, I collapsed to the ground to see one of the creatures grabbed me by the legs. It dug its claws into my leg causing me to let out a blood-curdling scream in agony. I kicked it off with my other leg and slowly tried to get up but my leg couldn't move. As I was looking into the darkness, time seemed to slow down, the creatures ran at me and I knew I would not make it out alive. Would Katie and Tyler know how I died? I'm sorry I wasn't a better son dad…